2 hopefuls are primarily long shots

Joyce Washington and Nancy Skinner are chasing the Democratic nomination for the U.S. Senate, but with little money, scant media presence and microscopic poll numbers, they're entrenched in the back of the seven-candidate field.

Both are nonetheless campaigning hard, saying the large number of undecided voters might yet hand them victory in the March 16 primary.

Washington, 53, ran unsuccessfully for lieutenant governor in 2002, but her life outside of politics has been spent in the health industry. She started as an intensive-care nurse in Atlanta, became an executive at several Chicago-area hospitals and is now a health-care consultant. She lives in the South Loop.

Not surprisingly, health care is her main issue. As part of her platform, she would try to achieve universal insurance coverage by expanding Medicaid and other federal programs, and by allowing others to buy into the plan covering federal employees. Repealing tax cuts for the wealthiest 2 percent of Americans could pay for the changes, she said.

Most voters consider health care their chief concern, so the Senate should include more experts to tackle it, Washington said.

"Health care is 14 percent of the economy. We have one physician in the Senate right now, only one," she said of Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.). "With something this big, such a crisis, we need more voices to stand up and firmly fight."

Washington's candidacy drew attention Monday when Chicago Ald. Dorothy Tillman (3rd) suggested that Washington should drop out of the race because she would draw votes away from the other black contender, state Sen. Barack Obama (D-Chicago), who is leading in a Tribune/WGN-Ch. 9 poll. Washington responded by saying she would not be "bullied out of the race."

Skinner, 38, comes to the race from a career in talk radio. She co-hosted a politically liberal leaning program on WLS-AM 890 until July, when she was suspended after announcing on the air that she would seek the Senate nomination.

The Lakeview resident continued with her second job as sidekick on "Doug Stephan's Good Day," a syndicated radio program that draws at least 2 million listeners nationwide, according to Talkers Magazine. But Illinois stations have yanked the show to avoid having to grant airtime to her opponents.

Skinner said her experience in the national media gives her the savvy Democrats need to win elections and policy debates.

"If you look at poll numbers, Americans agree with Democrats on the issues themselves . . . yet we've lost the White House and Congress and the Supreme Court," she said. "What I offer is a way for them to start winning again, and I believe media and message are central to doing that."

Skinner would allow uninsured Americans to buy cheap health insurance from the federal government, saying its huge purchasing power and low administrative costs would limit the expense. She would also renegotiate American trade agreements, using tariffs to punish countries that don't treat workers and the environment well.

The policy positions of the two candidates might appeal to some Democratic voters, but neither Washington nor Skinner has had the campaign cash to spread her message.

Instead, the two have spent plenty of time on the road. One recent Sunday, Washington said, she left her home at 2:30 a.m. to press the flesh in Springfield and East St. Louis and didn't return until after midnight. Less than six hours later she was shaking hands at a Metra station.

Skinner said she has also traveled the state, talking to Democratic organizations and doing radio interviews at stations that used to carry her program. And like former Democratic presidential candidate Howard Dean, she has tried to recruit volunteers and contributions through her Web site.

She got a burst of attention last week, calling a press conference in Chicago to defend rival Senate candidate Blair Hull against what she said were unfair accusations of domestic abuse. But her message occasionally veered into complaints about the lack of coverage given to her own campaign.

"I see an attack on Blair Hull that has not been proven or justified, and listen, I've been treated unfairly in this campaign myself . . . because I don't have money," she said.

Gayl Ferraro, chairman of the Democratic Party of DuPage County, where both candidates have spent significant time, said Skinner and Washington have been hurt by low name recognition. Months of stumping have raised their profiles, but most party loyalists have already thrown their support to other candidates, she said.

While the campaigns of Washington and Skinner will likely prove futile--each was supported by just 1 percent of likely Democratic primary voters surveyed in a Tribune/WGN-Ch. 9 poll--some are still saluting the attempt.

"Long shots are the people who have the least to lose, so they're more free to speak their mind and tell the truth," said Ski Anderson, Skinner's former WLS co-host. " . . . Every once in a while they hit, and they surprise the hell out of all of us."